From your description, Tom, the NU-City committee is advisory only. Is this correct? It has no separate authority over land use or takes any votes than I’m aware of.
As you describe them, the city’s efforts are indefensible. I read it as a clumsy attempt to redirect citizen comment on the same topics to municipal commissions and council t…
From your description, Tom, the NU-City committee is advisory only. Is this correct? It has no separate authority over land use or takes any votes than I’m aware of.
As you describe them, the city’s efforts are indefensible. I read it as a clumsy attempt to redirect citizen comment on the same topics to municipal commissions and council that do vote. The city should have let it go, but even if successful, it would not have stopped anything with legal authority. Am I correct?
I suspect the motivation for keeping the Nu-City committee in the dark was not about authority but about influence. Had the NU-City committee been alerted, they might tried to influence the litigation, which I would think is within their right. They might have kicked up a fuss, had discussions about the validity of the motion and otherwise pressed their opinions about the appropriateness of the motion.
As to the legal department’s failure to give notice to City Council, I would think that they would have had an obligation to do so. The legal department and therefore Nick Cummings represent the City of Evanston. The mayor, had he known about the motion, should have informed City Council, including the NU-City committee, the mayor and the City Manager because they are the City government.
Perhaps there is some exemption in municipal law of which I am unaware but usually, a lawyer (Nick Cummings) has to inform their client (the City of Evanston, including City Council, the City Manager and the mayor) if they are moving forward with litigation and/or negotiations on behalf of the client.
I’m not a municipal lawyer so all of the above is my opinion. However, whether or not the Law Department should have informed City Council, I think it was most certainly an error of judgement because it makes the legal department and the Mayor (if he knew) look disingenuous.
The whole scheme started after residents started attending the NU City meeting en masse to express frustration with the plans for large and small concerts. They literally sat there with a bored look on their faces and then decided they didn't want to keep hearing it and came up with the plan to avoid the conflict.
From your description, Tom, the NU-City committee is advisory only. Is this correct? It has no separate authority over land use or takes any votes than I’m aware of.
As you describe them, the city’s efforts are indefensible. I read it as a clumsy attempt to redirect citizen comment on the same topics to municipal commissions and council that do vote. The city should have let it go, but even if successful, it would not have stopped anything with legal authority. Am I correct?
Yes! It has like very little authority, which makes this whole thing even crazier!
I suspect the motivation for keeping the Nu-City committee in the dark was not about authority but about influence. Had the NU-City committee been alerted, they might tried to influence the litigation, which I would think is within their right. They might have kicked up a fuss, had discussions about the validity of the motion and otherwise pressed their opinions about the appropriateness of the motion.
As to the legal department’s failure to give notice to City Council, I would think that they would have had an obligation to do so. The legal department and therefore Nick Cummings represent the City of Evanston. The mayor, had he known about the motion, should have informed City Council, including the NU-City committee, the mayor and the City Manager because they are the City government.
Perhaps there is some exemption in municipal law of which I am unaware but usually, a lawyer (Nick Cummings) has to inform their client (the City of Evanston, including City Council, the City Manager and the mayor) if they are moving forward with litigation and/or negotiations on behalf of the client.
I’m not a municipal lawyer so all of the above is my opinion. However, whether or not the Law Department should have informed City Council, I think it was most certainly an error of judgement because it makes the legal department and the Mayor (if he knew) look disingenuous.
The whole scheme started after residents started attending the NU City meeting en masse to express frustration with the plans for large and small concerts. They literally sat there with a bored look on their faces and then decided they didn't want to keep hearing it and came up with the plan to avoid the conflict.
There were 19 public commenters at the 4/12/23 meeting, so if that's all it takes to ruffles feathers with Northwestern...
The absolute quiet disdain from Luke Figora at NU was appalling.